Thunderbodies

Soho Rep's new satire pokes, picks, and plucks at a society swimming, spinning, sloughing, and slurping through the fog of war. More…

It’s springtime in America. The war is finally over. Grotilde has completed her life’s work of losing the last 10 pounds, General Michail has proposed, and the President is up to his new tricks. So what if the weather is a little strange and the last soldier won’t come home?

“This short, rapid fire of a raucous romp is wildly entertaining, yet illuminating in its unparalleled marksmanship at exposing both the ridiculousness of reality and the surreal qualities of truth. Director Lileana Blaine-Cruz's thoroughly spot-on choices are a tremendous testament to Kate Tarker's thoughtful script...It’s a delight to experience something that catches you off guard with its hilarity, yet makes you think in the most nuanced and complex way."
Full Review

“A loud, filthy burlesque...’Thunderbodies’ seems mostly to be an excuse for linguistic, rather than political, mayhem...Blain-Cruz has a careful eye for goofy theater business...Jeffers makes several funny, subtle choices...In yet another splendid Off Broadway performance, O’Connell roars through the play, devouring the props and chewing the scenery. Whenever she speaks, the audience crows with delight—it’s such a pleasure to watch a woman really eat.”
Full Review

“I understand that this is satire...And it is supposed to be funny – the lines indicate this even if the actual staging does not make it so. But for me, satire is usually connected to something...There was none of that here. Just a group of willing actors going through the motion and promising to catch one another as they flew through the air. They do, and everyone ends safely on their feet. Why it all happened, and why we sat and watched it – well that is the mystery.”
Full Review

"Though 'Thunderbodies' is bursting at the seams with ugly vitality, its parade of rapacious cartoons feels like little more than a pair of middle fingers...Leaving the potential for real danger and real pathos untapped...Blain-Cruz hasn’t helped Hernández get below its surface...There’s always something to look at in 'Thunderbodies,' but there’s not always something to think about. If the play is to find its power, it will need to get a little more rigorous in the search for its own heart."
Full Review

"Stuffed with cute word twists and tiresome satire...But even if satire is your thing, you might like it to be funny or pointed. 'Thunderbodies' isn’t much of the first or any of the second. Its language is so promiscuous and its object so blurry it seems merely scattershot...Everything moves at the pace of a frantic party while also desperately signaling subversion...'Thunderbodies' certainly had me divided — between morbid curiosity and loathing."
Full Review

"Mockery without bite, a screeching cartoon based on the proposition that constantly referring to genitalia somehow constitutes a mordant comment on the state of the world. Tarker is a new face, but it's hard to imagine what possessed the perfectly fine director Lileana Blain-Cruz to sign up for this misbegotten project. She has seemingly urged the company to perform at a sustained level of screeching."
Full Review

“Doubling down on Tarker's instincts, Blain-Cruz directs the play as if its greatest enemy is thinking too much about it. Popping up and ducking out all around Matt Saunders's blue-and-yellow pastel set, the actors recite their lines quickly, apparently unconcerned if all of them are heard. Zhao's garish lighting (a strobe effect goes on so long you wonder if it's actually intended to induce epilepsy) and Botez's sublimely awful costumes are also calibrated to distract from Tarker's words.”
Full Review

See it if
not sure how to place this - loved half of it, didn't care much for the other half. Certainly unusual/ambitious enough to be worth watching.

Don't see it if
you don't like oversaturation of somewhat monotonous satire

Also
There are two (occasionally intersecting) plotlines there. A soldier refusing to accept the war is over plus a local girl; and then a (office) general plus Grotilda. I found the former much more convincing - romantic, honest and relevant, with excellent performances by both Matthew Jeffers and Monique St. Cyr. Deirdre O'Connell and Juan Carlos Hernandez were impressive as well but their characters were way too monotonous to be especially interesting.... Read moreRead less

See it if
you want to decide whether Jesse Green was too positive about this one. (He panned it.)

Don't see it if
you want to keep thinking that Liliana Blain-Cruz can do no wrong.

Also
Monique St. Cyr's performance was a bright spot. I will definitely be watching for more from her. Ben Horner's Obama-ish cadencing was excellent. (Ben is apparently a replacement actor. Mia Katigbak was announced -- and is listed on Show-Score -- for the part of The President.)... Read moreRead less

See it if
you want to see a play given a full production that is still in dire need of about 100 rewrites.

Don't see it if
there are other plays on your "Must-See" list. Just skip it.

Also
What a disaster! Mounting a new play that is at the workshop level. This production will not enhance Ms. Blain-Cruz's reputation as a director. Why cast Deirdre O'Connell, one of our very best theatre actors, in a role totally unsuited to her talents? What were the powers that be (i.e, Sarah Benson) thinking when she decided to produce this play. Certainly she must have received other better plays to produce. This is definitely a low point for Soho Rep.... Read moreRead less

See it if
You like splash without substance and imagery without anything significant to say behind it.

Don't see it if
You want something behind the absurdity to hold it up. As it is, this play is floundering and I'm shocked Soho Rep picked it for the season.

Also
I'm sorry, but this was just lazy playwriting. Word play and nothing more. Why pick it, Soho Rep? Why? The production and design gave it more time and money than it was worth, and in doing so has wasted playgoers time and money. A shame.

Deirdre O'Connell is a treasure and doing the best she can, but she is better than this show.... Read moreRead less

See it if
You like thrill rides. This play is wacky, satirical, unadulterated fun. It also doesn’t care if there’s a clear message. It’s about fun.

Don't see it if
You are epileptic. It is quite literally dizzying, and contains a full scene with intense strobes. But if you like the thrill, jump in.

Also
While this play points the finger at modern America, it is only laughing and does not pretend to offer any solution to its problems. The ridiculous words made up by the president, the clashing of seasons and unpredictable weather, and the stereotypes based on stereotypes are an exaggeration of our unfathomable ignorance that seems to border our own reality. Thunderbodies ends feeling like a children’s show. Maybe America is so stupid that it needs a show so simplistic and childish to understand itself.... Read moreRead less

See it if
you'd like to see a dazzling example of the strain of savage farce that, since UBU ROI, breaks out from time to time in modern theater.

Don't see it if
you are looking for a night of quiet contemplation.

Also
I love Paula Vogel. But when I read her blurb for “Thunderbodies,” comparing playwright Kara Tarker to such titans of modern stage savagery as Alfred Jarry & Joe Orton, my eyes rolled. But I was wrong: Vogel is right. “Thunderbodies” feels Jarryesque & utterly contemporary at once. Tarker effortlessly channels the Id of the human psyche, primitive, selfish, raging, frightening & very funny—we laugh in self defense because we know this turmoil from the inside, & now it has broken out. This set of characters has no shame. Nothing feels off limits. Riot conditions prevail from beginning (even before the play begins!) to end. I will reveal no plot details. All 5 performers throw themselves completely into the mayhem. Deirdre O’Connell’s Grotilde matches Pa Ubu for ferocity & she’s sexy where he is not. Playwright, director & designers feel perfectly attuned. Read the reviews on this site & you’ll know this is not a piece for everyone. I was thrilled throughout.... Read moreRead less

See it if
you want to see an anarchic, absurdist, futurist, madcap comedy that provides a profound, startling, satirical indictment of war.

Don't see it if
you aren't prepared for the unconventional; you don't enjoy absurdist or political theatre; you're tired of dystopian visions of our future

Also
If, like me, you admired Soho Rep's "Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again" (also directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz), I think you will appreciate this play, as well. Thunderbodies is not a knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud romp (although there were some audience members who did plenty of both), but it employs some wonderful clowning and contains some clever wordplay (as well as some cringeworthy punning) to deliver a dire message. Think Ionesco meets Beckett meets Orton meets Jarry. Playwright Kate Tarker is someone to watch...... Read moreRead less

See it if
You find sight gags and random verbal whimsey worthy if your time.

Don't see it if
You are expecting satire, or any serious comment on society and war. I heard lots of laughter from the audience but this was without merit.

Also
Soho Rep..really?!! I have to hope that they bought the elevator pitch on this, but it was too late to pull the plug when they realized that this had no redeeming point, or indeed any reason to exist.... Read moreRead less